It has been a long time since I wrote here.
It has been over a week since my birthday, but it feels like the past year flew by. Doesn’t it feel like this for you guys too? Every day is shorter, and every year goes by faster.
I learned to know myself better. I learned how my brain and body function, then created systems based on that. So I could hopefully perform at my best for the longest and get things done in the shortest amount of time. Sounds contradictory, but it is not. I simply learned what not to spend my time on. That is all there it is.
Time is something we have no control over, so we can only try to use it the best way we can on what interests us the most and with the people closest to us. I stopped trying to maximize my time and days like I used to not long ago. That busyness was exciting but tiring at the same time.
Learning to know ourselves is and should be our first goal in life. Learn who we are, how we think, how we feel, what triggers us, who we want to be, what we want to do, where we want to live, who we want to spend time with, and so on. We could also learn the opposite: think about who we are not, who we don’t want to be, what we don’t want to do, and so on.
Some people might call this being self-aware. I would not disagree, and at the same time, I would also add that there is much more than that. However, that would be getting philosophical, and I would not wish to do that on this piece.
As mentioned above, being self-aware is our first goal in life before going out to the wilderness because that is what it is like out there, at least for me. 😆
Mastering ourselves is the key to mastering everything else.
But, how do we master ourselves?
I can only tell what worked for me in this case. I think spending time on my own, thinking long and deep, adjusting the parts I didn’t fully like about myself, and creating and embracing systems and mental models. I know it might sound all too cheesy, but bear with me. The above is not rocket science, but at the time time, it is not easy because one has to go deep, and not many people are willing, prepared, or able to do it.
Well… This year I am a year older and, hopefully, a year wiser from all the learnings and experiences from the past year. One of my goals during the past years has been to become a wiser human being. Why? Because I knew that wisdom would stay with me throughout my lifetime, and therefore, bring some level of tranquility, virtue, and joy.
I think that being older does not automatically make you wiser. We can see this in some older people – all they have to show for their age is a number at the end of the day. I do not want to be one of them.
Being wiser does not mean one is always correct, though. I keep questioning things I do on a daily and weekly basis. For instance, the what, where, and how to best spend my time and energy on. I sometimes wonder whether I’m spending these correctly, but time will tell. And one thing I know about time is that every year that passes is a year less that I have to keep exploring, experiencing, and enjoying this life. 🥺
So, yeah. Time to stop writing for now and go back to living life to the fullest. 😊
Richard Chan 